A personal exploration of autism from a brother’s perspective, including family relationships, philosophy, neuroscience, mental health history and ethics

Menu

Taking Pills

Usually, taking pills is no big deal. However, it does take on special significance under certain conditions. For example, doctors have determined that treatment of certain diseases require a cocktail of pills to be given with precise timing. Less drastic, but other very important schedules of pill administrations include antibiotics. When a doctor decides that two or more antibiotics are necessary to take to completion at different schedules, the problem is magnified. There is confusion as well as physical discomfort with certain medications.

Instructions are sometimes difficult to keep track of, for example, ‘take after a meal’; ‘take on an empty stomach’; ‘wait 20 minutes after taking pill before eating’; and others.

Under normal circumstances the balancing a varied pill schedule is onerous. Imagine the difficulty if one is old and infirm or foggy or…. sick.